Zig Zag Claybourne
@zzclaybourne.bsky.social
Writer. Pie lover. Herald of Galactus but no worries. he/him zzclaybourne.com
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![Black button with white text says "Despite everything, create."]](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:fx5czwfl6527f7zkfhn6f4nt/bafkreid2jp4foumcpc73ws6myau4uinaicr4xdze7on7pu6rn4sdj7jp5u@jpeg)
There is no higher writing truth than this.
People always ask me, “how do I know my manuscript is done?”
There’s only one way, my friends.
If your file name looks something like this:
Manuscript - Final Draft 3.7 FINAL FINAL - FINAL (5).docx
Then, and only then, is it time.
There’s only one way, my friends.
If your file name looks something like this:
Manuscript - Final Draft 3.7 FINAL FINAL - FINAL (5).docx
Then, and only then, is it time.
November 23, 2025 at 5:47 PM
There is no higher writing truth than this.
Reposted by Zig Zag Claybourne
Disco gave a fantastic review of my first novel, Beneath Strange Lights, for TRR this year
books2read.com/AmeliaTemple...
books2read.com/AmeliaTemple...
Review of Beneath Strange Lights by @itsviviactually.bsky.social for #transrightsreadathon Day 5!
Trans femme 1950s sci fi! Perfect for fans of the X Files.
📚💙 📚🏳️🌈 📚🏳️⚧️
Trans femme 1950s sci fi! Perfect for fans of the X Files.
📚💙 📚🏳️🌈 📚🏳️⚧️
November 23, 2025 at 3:08 PM
Disco gave a fantastic review of my first novel, Beneath Strange Lights, for TRR this year
books2read.com/AmeliaTemple...
books2read.com/AmeliaTemple...
Reposted by Zig Zag Claybourne
And followed up with a Hallowe'en review of the first installment in my Gothic horror serial, Shadows Over Ravenkirk
books2read.com/SOR1
books2read.com/SOR1
Happy Halloween and happy Publication Day to Shadows Over Ravenkirk by @itsviviactually.bsky.social!
A trans woman is invited to a creepy seaside town to receive a mystery inheritance, dealing with weird bickering families & supernatural scares. So fun! Think Knives Out x The Addams Family 📚💙 📚🏳️⚧️
A trans woman is invited to a creepy seaside town to receive a mystery inheritance, dealing with weird bickering families & supernatural scares. So fun! Think Knives Out x The Addams Family 📚💙 📚🏳️⚧️
November 23, 2025 at 3:10 PM
And followed up with a Hallowe'en review of the first installment in my Gothic horror serial, Shadows Over Ravenkirk
books2read.com/SOR1
books2read.com/SOR1
Reposted by Zig Zag Claybourne
Listen, if they're gonna relentlessly let you know the McRib is back, you can damn sure have a full Pride Rock moment with your work. Shame is the little death. Let it pass through you. All that remains is whee.
If you're an author being published by small and tiny presses, please shamelessly promote your work, however much your temperament might militate against it. I've seen many wonderful authors at this level so quickly forgotten when they die, you deserve all the readers you can get while you're alive.
November 23, 2025 at 1:46 PM
Listen, if they're gonna relentlessly let you know the McRib is back, you can damn sure have a full Pride Rock moment with your work. Shame is the little death. Let it pass through you. All that remains is whee.
Still some good in this world, Mr Frodo.
Can't wait until I'm allowed to tell you all about my next novelette that revisits our favorite (and only) space-faring fenox Chesirah (link if you've forgotten) in an entanglement with the fae.
podcastle.org/2018/07/03/p...
podcastle.org/2018/07/03/p...
PodCastle 529: Chesirah - PodCastle
Chesirah By L. D. Lewis “It is almost time.” Chesirah smiled despite her screaming fingers. They were a blur, working feverishly to finish lacing together the last of her dark braids before Nazar the ...
podcastle.org
November 23, 2025 at 12:33 AM
Still some good in this world, Mr Frodo.
Frustrated famous writer in this romance movie just reached over from his desk to a stack of neat, clearly labeled trunk manuscripts to pull out "The One" that's going to rekindle his passion and I literally shouted "Monkey bullshit!"
November 22, 2025 at 8:08 PM
Frustrated famous writer in this romance movie just reached over from his desk to a stack of neat, clearly labeled trunk manuscripts to pull out "The One" that's going to rekindle his passion and I literally shouted "Monkey bullshit!"
Holiday romance movies and the one scenario they don't have the guts to tackle:
1. Emma Maddie Bethany Hope mollifies her 20-year fixation on her high school sweetheart with the nightly scent of burning hair from her curling iron...
1. Emma Maddie Bethany Hope mollifies her 20-year fixation on her high school sweetheart with the nightly scent of burning hair from her curling iron...
November 22, 2025 at 3:25 PM
Holiday romance movies and the one scenario they don't have the guts to tackle:
1. Emma Maddie Bethany Hope mollifies her 20-year fixation on her high school sweetheart with the nightly scent of burning hair from her curling iron...
1. Emma Maddie Bethany Hope mollifies her 20-year fixation on her high school sweetheart with the nightly scent of burning hair from her curling iron...
The one rule of cactus club: when you get blooms you share blooms. Look at this absolute beaut!
November 22, 2025 at 1:38 PM
The one rule of cactus club: when you get blooms you share blooms. Look at this absolute beaut!
I don't know who needs to hear this but CONVERSATIONS WITH IDRAS is $9.70 at Amazod. This funny hardcover features the words bruv and fam more times than you've ever encountered in a single book: LESS THAN 10 BUCKS! Normally $25.
Silliness awaits!
www.amazon.com/Conversation...
Silliness awaits!
www.amazon.com/Conversation...
November 22, 2025 at 1:03 PM
I don't know who needs to hear this but CONVERSATIONS WITH IDRAS is $9.70 at Amazod. This funny hardcover features the words bruv and fam more times than you've ever encountered in a single book: LESS THAN 10 BUCKS! Normally $25.
Silliness awaits!
www.amazon.com/Conversation...
Silliness awaits!
www.amazon.com/Conversation...
I want a crepe. No, I want a blintz. A blueberry & cream cheese blintz. A dollop of whipped cream atop, crushed walnuts sprinkled thereon. I want absolute mental peace after eating it, figure a few things out. Sleep, wake up knowing new incantations. Write em in a spellbook, make it easily found.
November 22, 2025 at 4:30 AM
I want a crepe. No, I want a blintz. A blueberry & cream cheese blintz. A dollop of whipped cream atop, crushed walnuts sprinkled thereon. I want absolute mental peace after eating it, figure a few things out. Sleep, wake up knowing new incantations. Write em in a spellbook, make it easily found.
Almost time to break out Ma's sweet potato pie recipe.
November 21, 2025 at 8:34 PM
Almost time to break out Ma's sweet potato pie recipe.
Fund before supper, have rest of evening to chill.
Yay! 51%! You get a percentage, I'll update the graphic.
We can do this!
We can do this!
Support African Translation Project
African Translation Project / Need to complete funding for Shona → English translation / still needed: $2435, 51% / Amount above completes funding for translation of Zvinobvinza / isiZulu translation ...
ko-fi.com
November 21, 2025 at 8:28 PM
Fund before supper, have rest of evening to chill.
Today's Khumalo joy from a reader:
"This (Breath Warmth & Dream) will nourish you. Guaranteed, everybody! Then get Amnandi Sails and see what good people can do together to heal what’s broken. Magic and adventure on the high seas!"
Book love is what? Good love!
"This (Breath Warmth & Dream) will nourish you. Guaranteed, everybody! Then get Amnandi Sails and see what good people can do together to heal what’s broken. Magic and adventure on the high seas!"
Book love is what? Good love!
November 21, 2025 at 6:17 PM
Today's Khumalo joy from a reader:
"This (Breath Warmth & Dream) will nourish you. Guaranteed, everybody! Then get Amnandi Sails and see what good people can do together to heal what’s broken. Magic and adventure on the high seas!"
Book love is what? Good love!
"This (Breath Warmth & Dream) will nourish you. Guaranteed, everybody! Then get Amnandi Sails and see what good people can do together to heal what’s broken. Magic and adventure on the high seas!"
Book love is what? Good love!
MAGA holding onto it while the inevitable explosions go off like pop rocks in their brains.
November 21, 2025 at 1:11 PM
MAGA holding onto it while the inevitable explosions go off like pop rocks in their brains.
Paperback $11. Limited time.
Treat yourself.
Treat yourself.
Breath, Warmth, and Dream
Breath, Warmth, and Dream [Claybourne, Zig Zag] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. Breath, Warmth, and Dream
www.amazon.com
November 21, 2025 at 11:45 AM
Paperback $11. Limited time.
Treat yourself.
Treat yourself.
Know this: There's a universe where Arnold Schwarzenegger, at the height of his popularity, was tapped for a late 80s Willy Wonka reboot solely so he could say "Come wid me if you vant a wuld of pyure eemagination." VHS copies of that movie continue to exist there. Vangelis did the score.
November 21, 2025 at 2:21 AM
Know this: There's a universe where Arnold Schwarzenegger, at the height of his popularity, was tapped for a late 80s Willy Wonka reboot solely so he could say "Come wid me if you vant a wuld of pyure eemagination." VHS copies of that movie continue to exist there. Vangelis did the score.
"Some books are just so full of wonderful moments--like every page! I'm reading @zzclaybourne's BREATH, WARMTH, AND DREAM, and I am ~raking in~ the quotations...
"'She said lost feathers are blessed by all gods...'"
Thank you, @asakiyume.bsky.social for sharing this light this morning!
"'She said lost feathers are blessed by all gods...'"
Thank you, @asakiyume.bsky.social for sharing this light this morning!
November 20, 2025 at 4:06 PM
"Some books are just so full of wonderful moments--like every page! I'm reading @zzclaybourne's BREATH, WARMTH, AND DREAM, and I am ~raking in~ the quotations...
"'She said lost feathers are blessed by all gods...'"
Thank you, @asakiyume.bsky.social for sharing this light this morning!
"'She said lost feathers are blessed by all gods...'"
Thank you, @asakiyume.bsky.social for sharing this light this morning!
This makes me happy. There are a million ways to write; I mindfully approach it so you can hold the words in your hands & turn em over if you want. And I adore this series I'm working on.
Four quotations from yesterday's reading of @zzclaybourne.bsky.social 's BREATH, WARMTH, AND DREAM --truly, I highlight an average of one thing per page
"She said lost feathers are blessed by all gods. She has a sarong with at least a hundred different feathers sewn into it." (1/4)
"She said lost feathers are blessed by all gods. She has a sarong with at least a hundred different feathers sewn into it." (1/4)
November 20, 2025 at 3:52 PM
This makes me happy. There are a million ways to write; I mindfully approach it so you can hold the words in your hands & turn em over if you want. And I adore this series I'm working on.
Art ain't safe, beloveds. 2-way highway of maximum whee. Certain missteps are signs of risk-taking. Might sound trite but sometimes mistakes are the only way you know you're making the thing out of fire and respect, which is right & proper. Shou sugi ban that wip.
November 20, 2025 at 3:46 PM
Art ain't safe, beloveds. 2-way highway of maximum whee. Certain missteps are signs of risk-taking. Might sound trite but sometimes mistakes are the only way you know you're making the thing out of fire and respect, which is right & proper. Shou sugi ban that wip.
Insomnia brain is saying "Go make mac & cheese" but insomnia brain is also responsible for such hits as "I wonder what ex is doing?" "Maybe I should review my entire life to help me sleep" & "This would be a great time to edit!" so, no, I will not be giving in to various Velveeta whispers.
November 20, 2025 at 7:13 AM
Insomnia brain is saying "Go make mac & cheese" but insomnia brain is also responsible for such hits as "I wonder what ex is doing?" "Maybe I should review my entire life to help me sleep" & "This would be a great time to edit!" so, no, I will not be giving in to various Velveeta whispers.
In which @tbonejenkins.bsky.social drops truth inspired by something I wrote, then jams on @blog.readindiefantasy.com
tbonecafeblog.com/2025/11/19/s...
tbonecafeblog.com/2025/11/19/s...
Stories as Connection
It’s been a while since I’ve mused on the nature of reading and writing. Honestly, I was just going to journal this on my own and leave it at that. But then I realized I could make it a blog post. …
tbonecafeblog.com
November 19, 2025 at 10:04 PM
In which @tbonejenkins.bsky.social drops truth inspired by something I wrote, then jams on @blog.readindiefantasy.com
tbonecafeblog.com/2025/11/19/s...
tbonecafeblog.com/2025/11/19/s...
This last qtr of 2025 has been a solid winner reading-wise. Every book I picked up has driven my whee share up & significantly improved forecasts for my own creativity in 2026. Examples: The Inconvenient God; Lagoonfire; When the Tiger Came Down the Mountain; Dispelling Fantasies...
TBR is love.
TBR is love.
November 18, 2025 at 2:08 PM
This last qtr of 2025 has been a solid winner reading-wise. Every book I picked up has driven my whee share up & significantly improved forecasts for my own creativity in 2026. Examples: The Inconvenient God; Lagoonfire; When the Tiger Came Down the Mountain; Dispelling Fantasies...
TBR is love.
TBR is love.
Reposted by Zig Zag Claybourne
Here's a link to my 2025 #EligibilityPost at my site, plus threaded links for the entries below.
Thanks for reading!
jessicalevai.com/2025/11/13/2...
Thanks for reading!
jessicalevai.com/2025/11/13/2...
2025 Eligibility Post
It’s that time of year again! Here’s a handy list of everything I’ve published in 2025. The Glass GardenNovella, 32,000 words. Sci-fi/Horror/Family Drama.A homebody archaeologist …
jessicalevai.com
November 18, 2025 at 1:19 PM
Here's a link to my 2025 #EligibilityPost at my site, plus threaded links for the entries below.
Thanks for reading!
jessicalevai.com/2025/11/13/2...
Thanks for reading!
jessicalevai.com/2025/11/13/2...
Can find a little love in the most unexpected places.
November 17, 2025 at 6:10 PM
Can find a little love in the most unexpected places.